Epicor has announced the promotion of Joe Ayers to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Ayers had been serving as interim CFO for the last quarter after Samual Monti left the firm to become CEO Of Crownpeak. Ayers joined the company in March 2021, serving as Vice President of FP&A and Business Intelligence.
Having assisted with driving the financial strategy, leading operations, and the execution of that strategy, he will now assume the role officially. He will lead the fiscal strategy and is tasked with investing in technology. This will help drive the firm forward in its mission to deliver value to the make, move, and sell industries. While focusing on profitable growth for Epicor.
Steve Murphy, Epicor CEO, commented, “The days of finance being viewed as a back-office function are long gone, Joe brings a strong skillset in leveraging finance as a strategic enabler for the business, empowering every part of the organization with the right guidance, resources, and operational partnership to win in the marketplace. Joe’s role and impact in helping us surpass the $1 billion annual revenue threshold has been evident to all, and we’re incredibly excited to have him at the helm as we continue to scale and grow our global business.”
Who is Joe Ayers
Ayers joined Epicor from Khoros. There he held several leadership positions in the finance team over five years, rising to VP of finance Operations. He began his career at KPMG as an audit manager and CPA. Ayers spent five years at the firm specializing in private and Fortune 1000 public company audits. He then moved to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, focusing on SEC reporting and technical accounting.
His rise to CFO has been relatively rapid, especially considering the size and global nature of Epicor. He also appears to be a modern CFO, active on LinkedIn and social media. He spoke about his career in a blog on Neo.Tax site. There, he talks about taking Epicor on a path towards Postmodern Finance, describing it as, “automation + expertise will lead to data-empowered, financially strategic decision-making. And it all starts with making the finance team an ally instead of an adversary for innovators.”
Ayers commented, “Much like Epicor serves its own customers, the Epicor finance team is working hard to equip our organization with the right data-driven insights at the right time to make the best decisions possible. It’s that shift from gatekeeper to growth-minded collaborator that’s so exciting and a big part of why I’m so pleased to take on this role in helping Epicor differentiate and scale across the industries we serve.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Murphy has found a rising star in Ayers. Not only does he have the varied experience necessary for a CFO. But he also showed, during the interim period, that he is capable of leading the function. Ayers is also willing to speak out; posting on social media is important today. He will do his reputation no harm and can also speak the language the CFOs understand and appeal to the CEOs of the target organisations.
Ayers is also optimistic about the future for Epicor, commenting on LinkedIn, “Epicor has a very promising future ahead. The collective enthusiasm, motivation, and collaboration across the company is a big part of why I’m so pleased to take on this role. Together, I look forward to helping Epicor differentiate and scale across the industries we serve.”
